The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King

With The Lord of the Rings Trilogy Peter Jackson has created a cinematic masterpiece. Because all three films were shot simultaneously there is a continuity and a flow to the films not generally seen in film series. The undertaking of directing three massive movies at once must have been taxing, but it has culminated in an epic trilogy that will go down as one of the best ever made.

The Return of the King is a truly satisfying conclusion to the great expectations set by the first two films. The acting is top notch and the sweeping battle scenes are breathtaking and vaster than in the previous two films. At this point all of the introductions have been made and Jackson allows his cast of characters to carry their burdens to their conclusion. It has been a long journey and the characters in this film far exceed their potential at the Fellowship. The parts are greater than their sum as they lend a hand, and more importantly hope, to the far flung realms of Rohan, Gondor, and Mordor.

The Return of the King is the conclusion to the Lord of the Rings trilogy. It finishes the story of Frodo Baggins and the Fellowship and their attempt to destroy Sauron’s ring of power. When we left off at the end of The Two Towers Gollum/Smeagol was leading Frodo and his faithful assistant Sam into the land of Mordor by a secret way. Aragorn, Gimli, and Legolas had just turned back Saruman’s army at Helm’s Deep with the help of Gandalf and the Rohirim. Merry and Pippin were with Treebeard at the storming of Isengard by the Ents. Thus Return of the King picks up with Saruman vanquished but Gondor and Middle Earth still in peril from the might of Mordor and Sauron. Thus the Return of the King picks up with the Fellowship still fractured and pursuing their way towards a final showdown with Sauron.

As with the previous two movies the action scenes and the CGI effects do not overwhelm the story, they simply enable it to happen with all the breathtaking scenery that any reader of the books could imagine. Again in this movie Jackson allows his characters the smaller moments, the calm before the storm, in which to doubt their abilities and to trust ever more deeply in their bonds of friendship.

The characters have all grown wiser and more tired, shown physically by Frodo because of the weight of the ring. Nowhere is this growth of character move evident than in Aragorn, played by Viggo Mortensen, and Sam, played by Sean Astin. Aragon has grown from the ranger of the north who spurred his destiny to the king of the film’s title. His heroic actions allow him to claim the throne of Gondor and rally the dead army to his cause. Sam, meanwhile, has grown from a gardener to a fighter and continues to his service to Frodo through all doubt and despair as he helps Frodo to complete his treacherous mission.

The flow of this film is even better than that of the Two Towers and the tension that builds to the inevitable meeting with Shelob is truly gasp worthy as many audience members can attest. I expect that the special edition, like the special edition of The Two Towers will only be richer and more impressive than the theatrical cut. There is so much to the lore of these stories that cannot be told in three plus hours. I highly recommend reading the books, it is well worth it though somewhat painful in parts.

These films are destined to become classics in the epic footsteps of Ben Hur and Lawrence of Arabia both of which feature characters pushed beyond the breaking point in epic circumstances much like Mr. Frodo. It could be argued that the end goes on too long and perhaps that there is one ending too many. I pondered this before coming to the conclusion that I disagree. In the true spirit of Tolkien’s story, the tale continues though some characters are finished with their parts. It is a living history of a vanishing world. Perhaps we just linger because we do not want to leave Tolkien’s and Jackson’s world too soon.

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